This is definitely the most unique reading I have done so far for this semester (ignoring the part where it's actually a movie)! While I definitely can't say I would watch this on my own, I still thought it was a very unique retelling of the Ramayana.
One thing I found very interesting, and that I didn't know before, was that Ravana's kingdom of Lanka is actually Sri Lanka! I thought that was very cool. I also thought it was interesting how Nina Paley's story was interwoven with the story of Rama and Sita.
The thing that stood out to me the most, however, was about 30 minutes into the movie, when the narrators argue about why Sita didn't escape Lanka with Hanuman when her first found her. That is such an interesting idea! One of them argued that maybe she was trying to "glorify Rama" but letting him save her. I call bull on that! I hate how Sita is shown as so powerless during the Ramayana, and I think Sita securing her own escape would have been an excellent way to showcase her as a powerful female character.
That also leads into one thing I didn't like about this film so far. I didn't like how the fact that Sita was singing the music meant that while she was just off singing, all of the action in the story happened without her. She sang both while Hanuman burned Lanka, and while Rama defeated Ravana.
For a story based on this reading, I think I would go off from the idea of Sita securing her own escape from Lanka.
Bibliography:
"Sita Sings the Blues" by Nina Paley in 2008. Link: YouTube
No comments:
Post a Comment